"Your sin is Wrath"

I stare off across the landscape at the pile of rubble that use to hold Joseph's likeness. Faith's dried blood is still on my arms. I did it. I saved the day.

So why do I feel like the villian? What if she was just a victim? What if she was just another product of Joseph? Was she innocent? How many people have I killed that could have been deprogrammed or talked down?

The first peggy I came across after I left Dutch's bunker… My first level headed kill… Her dying words of 'I just wanted to be safe' still haunt me. They run circles around my head every time i sit and have a chat with one of the hunters or trappers or fishermen across the county who remind me that not every problem can be solved with a bullet.

And then there was the Marshall… He told me he didn't want to leave and I dragged him out. He wasn't well. She told me to leave him alone.

"Have you ever given so much as a second thought to killing?"

I hadn't. Not until now. John's words haunt me. His voice is stronger than I ever heard Faith's. Stronger because I know how true they are. After I escaped his bunker, I hopped on the first four wheeler I saw and ran. I left the valley. I left Fall's End. I left Hudson. I crossed into the Henbane and I never looked back. I've come so far. I've done so much but the list of things people keep asking of me is only getting longer. Henbane River might as well be running with the blood of everyone I've killed. And yet, I haven't even been to Jacob's mountains.

The shaking is fading. All the adrenalin it took to escape Faith's fucked up bunker has left me drained.
Dutch calls once a day to tell me how bad it's gotten. John is ripping through outposts and people to try and find me. Fall's End is barely holding on. They need me to fight. They need me to kill. I haven't responded.

"In the end, you'll still be empty."

I take off my parachute and set it next to me. I am empty. He took something from me. My nerve. My resolve. My partner.

"So who wants to go first?"

I didn't even need to think about it before I was nearly begging Yes through my gag.

Hudson had cried. She screamed out for me as he wheeled her away and in the end I left her there. I stepped up to take whatever John was going to dish out. I wanted to spare her from any more pain, but instead, I ran. Just another person I care about who I failed to save. What did he do to her after I left?

"You there Rook?" My radio crackles to life, pulling me from my mind and back to the cliffs edge where I've been standing.

It's Dutch.

"Listen, I can tell you've been going through some tough shit. Hell, we all have. But we need you pretty bad right now. Eli up in the whitetails needs you."

I don't answer and look back down at the sheer drop.

The radio crackles and cuts the silence again, "My granddaughter is up there. I havent heard from her in a bit. If you get a chance, see if you can find her for me. Let me know shes ok."

My jaw trembles and I begin to cry. He knew just what to say. I have to go now. I have to help. People need me. They need me to kill.

"You'll still be empty…"

I kick a rock over the edge and watch it fall. Sharky went for drinks at the Spread Eagle. He's my only reprieve from all the killing. You can't scream if you're laughing. I can't join him. I can't walk back into the Valley. Not yet.

I take a step back and grab my parachute. I almost wipe away the evidence of my breakdown but seeing the blood on my hands, I think better of it. I'll just check in with the whitetails. Maybe they'll be well armed. Maybe they won't need me. Maybe I can finally sleep a full night without the nightmares. Maybe for one day I won't be wrath.